Arvil meant to say what he did for completely different reasons, but it was fine if she thought it was something else.
"All right, let's do this."
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“Yes, let’s,” Daisy agreed as she followed him inside. “And let’s hope I do well.”
Arvil leaned against the wall after some time, breathing in heavily. Kids were definitely hard to look after, even though he got along with them extremely well. They were pretty happy with their presents and the food they got, and Arvil had spent the time after lunch giving them rides on their shoulders. Afterwards, he sat them down and read to them, something most of them enjoyed doing. The rest of his team played with the ones that were too hyper to sit still.
But now he was tired, and he wanted a breather. His eyes wandered around the place until they landed on his fake girlfriend. He chuckled. How was she faring?
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“And the stars said to the moon, ‘Why do you leave us during the day? We can’t be seen when the sun replaces you,’” Daisy read to the group of children sitting around her. She glanced a child who giggled, smiling at the little girl.
“The stars can’t talk! They’re too far up in the sky,” she exclaimed.
Daisy chuckled softly and shook her head. “But they can. How else do you think we can find our way around at night without running into things? They tell us where to go.”
Arvil grinned when he heard Daisy read to a small group of children. Quietly, he knelt behind her, the grin still on his features.
"Oh? They do?" he tilted his head to the side. "But how come we never hear them, though? What do you have to say to that, Miss Riley?"
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Daisy glanced up, turning around to see Avril. She gave him a small smile, shaking her head at him.
“You do hear them. You’ve just grown so used to hearing them that you’ve forgotten what you’re hearing. That little voice in your head? That’s the stars, guiding you,” she explained, facing the kids again.
Arvil stood up to join the little kids in front of Daisy, two of them taking a seat in his lap while he rested his chin on their head. His mischievous smile didn't lighten.
"But that little voice in our head tells us to do a lot of silly things," he said. "Does that mean the stars want us to be mischievous? What do you think, kids?"
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A chorus of agreements arose from the kids, and Daisy gave Arvil an amused look. She raised her eyebrows at him, her smile never leaving her lips.
“The stars are very mischievous themselves. Of course they’d want us to do silly things. They think it’s funny,” she explained. “May I get back to reading our story now, Mr. Davis?”
Arvil shifted as best as he could with the kids in his lap, then chuckled at Daisy.
"My apologies, Ms. Riley," he said smoothly. "Do continue. The story is quite amusing."
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Daisy rolled her eyes, still smiling, and glanced down at the book. “Thank you, Mr. Davis,” she said with good-humored sarcasm before going back to reading the book.
Finally, around evening, they were done. Everything was cleaned up and taken care of, and Arvil's team had already left for the company. They were supposed to fill in a report, so they left earlier.
"Hey," Arvil nudged Daisy lightly when they made their way to his car after bidding the kids goodbye. "Tired?"
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Daisy looked over at Arvil and shrugged. She was still smiling a little from talking to the kids. It had actually been pretty fun to read to them.
“Just a little… I had fun today,” she murmured, facing forward again. “The kids were all so sweet.”
"Weren't they?" Arvil smiled at her, opening the door for her. "They're used to me because we do this every year, but I can definitely tell they were excited to play with you."
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“Well, I’m glad. I’m excited to do this again,” Daisy said, glancing at him again. “Tomorrow, right?”
"Yup," Arvil nodded. "But at a different orphanage. We can always visit these kiddos later on if you'd like."
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“As in later in the day or on a different day? Because I have a feeling one will be enough for the day,” Daisy chuckled.
Arvil shook his head, laughing amusedly. "On a different day, of course."
When she sat down in her seat, he closed the door and took his own place in the driver's seat. Backing the car out, he glanced at Daisy from the corner of his eyes.
"Do you want to eat something before we reach the company?"
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Daisy glanced at her phone, checking whether or not she had the time to go eat. She had a couple of free hours left before she should get home and work on her latest project, so she shrugged.
“Sure, I’ve got a bit of time,” she agreed, turning to him.
"All right," Arvil hummed. "What do you want to eat? And please don't say you don't know. Just pick anything."
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“Uh… But what if I really don’t know?” Daisy asked with a slight laugh. “Why don’t you choose?”
"I'm craving some shawarma right now," Arvil hummed. "What do you say about going to a shawarma joint?"
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Daisy hummed, nodding. “Shawarma sounds great. Is there a place close by?”
"There is one fifteen minutes away," Arvil nodded, already making a turn for it. "It's the best shawarma in the city."
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“Well, then it better not disappoint,” Daisy chuckled, leaning back in her seat. “I’ll be holding you to that.”
"It would not be disappointing, I assure you," Arvil shot her a smirk. "You'll want to come back here again."
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Daisy hummed. “Well, good. I think we’d have to rethink this entire thing if you took me to bad restaurants.”
"Perhaps that could be a reason for our breakup," Arvil commented as he took a turn, eye instantly searching for a parking space. "Arvil Davis, purposely taking Daisy Riley to bad restaurants."
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Daisy snorted, shaking her head. “Oh, yes. Definitely. I cannot believe you would do such a thing.”
"The things a man does to get out of a relationship," Arvil sighed as he killed the car engine and unbuckled himself.
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“The things a woman will complain about to get out of one,” Daisy chuckled as she climbed out of the car.
